The following open letter was addressed to Fairfax Connector.
During the Embark Richmond Highway public meeting two nights ago, I asked why there was no limited-stop bus service at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Boswell Avenue, even though the planners of the bus rapid transit system for the corridor thought the location important enough to designate that spot for a future station.
Background: FFX 159 and the REX serve the same stops along Richmond Highway between Sherwood Hall Lane and Penn Daw (where the 159 takes South Kings Highway to Huntington Metro South, while the REX continues on Richmond Highway to Huntington and thence to Huntington Metro North).
At present, the two services have stops at Sherwood Hall Lane, Arlington Drive, Lockheed Boulevard, Beacon Hill, and (I believe) in Penn Daw. The Arlington Drive and Lockheed Boulevard stops serve the two ends of the Mt. Vernon Square apartments, although it may be the case that the Connector cannot acknowledge its service to the north end of Mr. Vernon Plaza Apartments, as there is a fence blocking the connection between Dart Drive to the west and the end of Arlington Drive to the east, within the development’s boundary. However, the residents of the complex have broken through the fence to provide a pathway on at least three occasions, as the route provides greatly eased access to transit.
Comment: The Arlington Drive and Lockheed Boulevard stops are only a third of a mile apart, even though the Sherwood Hall and Arlington Drive stops are 3/4s of a mile apart. Boswell Avenue is nearly in the middle between Lockheed and Sherwood Hall. And the BRT plan shows stops at Lockheed, Boswell, and Sherwood Hall, skipping Arlington Drive. I would not advocate removing limited stop service from Arlington Drive, as the stop is in fact well used. The BRT plan acknowledges that the commercial strip from Lockheed Boulevard to Sherwood Hall Lane is already important along its whole length. There is significant bus ridership boarding and alighting at the stops at Woodlawn Trail and Boswell/Fordson Road from the 171, 150’s, and 160’s. If bus rapid transit planners consider the Boswell stop important enough for a station in 15 years, it is certainly important enough for a stop by the express buses that already run along the corridor.
Action: Please mandate that the 159 stop at either Fordson Road/Boswell or Woodlawn Trail, and advocate that the REX do the same.
Comment: Woodlawn Trail is closer to Shoppers, by far the biggest draw for bus passengers, in my estimation, but the crossing is dangerous, with no light at the intersection. In practice, I believe that people make a stop on their way home to the south. I very often see people walking through McDonald’s parking lot to and from crossing Fordson Road to the west, even though that’s also dangerous. Fordson Road is far too wide and the cars go through at over 30 miles per hour, since the “parking lanes” never in fact have anyone parked in them.
Larry D. Huffman
Alexandria